Advocacy Groups Seek Disbarment of Ex-Bush Administration Lawyers

Tuesday, 19 May 2009 — Minister of Information

Advocacy Groups Seek Disbarment of Ex-Bush Administration Lawyers *

By SCOTT SHANE
Published: May 18, 2009

WASHINGTON — A coalition of left-wing advocacy groups filed legal ethics complaints on Monday against 12 former Bush administration lawyers, including three United States attorneys general, whom the groups accuse of helping to justify torture.

John C. Yoo wrote some of the legal opinions in dispute. The coalition, called Velvet Revolution, asked the bar associations in four states and the District of Columbia to disbar the lawyers, saying their actions violated the rules of professional responsibility by approving interrogation methods, including waterboarding, that constituted illegal torture.